Biden administration bans Powder River Basin coal leasing

COAL: The Biden administration finalizes rules blocking new federal coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, but Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon says he will work with the incoming Trump administration to overturn the ban. (The Hill, news release)  

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OIL & GAS:

• A court upholds New Mexico rules aimed at reducing oil and gas facilities’ ozone-forming emissions after a petroleum lobbying group challenged the regulations. (Associated Press)
• Colorado regulators accuse oil and gas companies’ consulting firms of falsifying environmental data for hundreds of facilities in the northwestern part of the state. (Colorado Newsline)
• A petroleum company files a lawsuit seeking to invalidate a new California law requiring it to shut down and plug its Inglewood oil field wells or face penalties, claiming the act is unconstitutional. (Los Angeles Times)

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SOLAR:

• New Mexico regulators adopt new bill-crediting rules allowing community solar developers to move forward with finding new subscribers. (New Mexico Political Report)
• Public Service Company of New Mexico proposes a 100 MW solar-plus-storage installation in the northwestern part of the state to replace the retired San Juan coal plant’s generation and tax revenue. (New Mexico Political Report)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management halts new mining claims on 5,159 acres in western Utah while it considers the proposed 600 MW Star Range solar installation. (news release)

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CLEAN ENERGY: A Colorado city considers offering a renewable energy company more than $4 million in tax rebates if it establishes a manufacturing facility locally. (Gazette)

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UTILITIES:

• Southern Colorado residents, local governments and nonprofits urge regulators to reject a utility’s proposed rate hike, saying its customers already have the state’s highest electric bills. (Colorado Sun)
• Pacific Gas & Electric tells regulators its equipment may have sparked the Sites wildfire that burned more than 19,000 acres in northern California this June. (KQED)
• A U.S. senator calls on Oregon’s largest utility to justify recent rate increases and to explain how it has spent federal subsidies aimed at reducing ratepayer costs. (OPB)

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CLIMATE: Data show Boulder, Colorado has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 24% over the past six years, with the biggest reductions coming from buildings and transportation. (Boulder Daily Camera)  

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BIOFUEL: California advocates push back on a plan to produce fuel pellets from wildfire mitigation work for export to Europe and Asia, saying it would pollute port communities. (Los Angeles Times)

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GEOTHERMAL: A Colorado startup proposes a 20 to 80 MW geothermal plant on a private ranch in the western part of the state. (Ouray County Plaindealer)

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PUBLIC LANDS: Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning is named president of an environmental group after tightening rules on public land oil and gas drilling and coal leasing during the Biden administration. (Associated Press)

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COMMENTARY: A California columnist says popular bakeries’ opposition helped sink Berkeley’s natural gas-tax ballot measure, and urges the restaurant industry to work together to electrify. (Los Angeles Times)

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